Instead the ceremonies were moved inside Town Hall, and the NAACP will seek to negotiate quietly to get the city to make the day an official holiday.

The city employees contract expires this year and "we are in negotiations with the city" to get the King holiday designated an official holiday, said Esther Lee, the branch's third vice president.

City officials have said all holidays must be negotiated with city labor unions. However the administration says the city cannot afford to create another holiday and city unions have rejected the holiday exchange they have been offered.

Hopefully a change can be brought about by discussion, said Lee. "Someone will have to bend" and a change can be made without upsetting the city's tax structure, she said.

Earlier in the day organizations including the NAACP and the Elks Bethel Lodge 1284 placed a wreath at the monument at Martin Luther King park on Carlton Avenue, Bethlehem. The groups marched from the Elks home on Brodhead Avenue.

Last night's ceremonies were marked by music and officials remembering King, the slain civil rights leader.

"There never has been an evening as important in this hall," said Bethlehem Mayor Ken Smith. "It is important to realize this type of gathering is taking place across America and everyone will pause" and join together to remember King, he said.

The time that has passed helps people to recognize that he spoke for everyone and not just blacks, Smith said. The challenge to obtain freedom, justice and peace for everyone must continue to be pursued.

"The message is clear. Civil rights is an eternal moral issue and ultimately (we) are trying to free all of us," he said. Blacks from racism and whites from bigotry and fear, Smith said.

"We must depend on moral consciousness," said NAACP President Fred Middleton.